Step Enzymatic Hydrolysis and In Silico Screening-Assisted Preparation of Bioactive Peptides from Abalone

Bioactive components of abalone and other marine organisms have attracted significant attention owing to their functional performance. The development of peptides with bioactivity like angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory (ACEi) and antioxidant properties is of great significance for chronic disease management and drug discovery. In this study, according to the issues of low utilization rate and bioactive content from the hydrolysate of abalone, single-factor and orthogonal experiments were designed to improve the utilization rate of abalone protein, and step hydrolysis with specific proteases was used to improve the overall biological activity of the hydrolysate. A total of 1937 peptide sequences were obtained from the highly bioactive components after separation and peptidomic analysis. Through virtual screening and molecular docking, 14 peptides exhibiting ACEi activity were identified and synthesized for experimental verification, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.05 to 0.54 mg/mL. Notably, nine of these peptides were powerful antioxidants. The developed step enzymatic hydrolysis and <i>in silico</i> screening-assisted preparation also provided a feasible and efficient method for exploring more bioactive peptides from diverse biomasses.